13,000 prisoners secretly hanged in Syrian jail

In a shocking revelation, a report published by Amnesty International has claimed that around 13,000 prisoners were secretly hanged inside Syria’s Saydnaya prison. The report titled, Human Slaughterhouse, reveals that these people were opponents of Bashar al-Assad and were hanged secretly during the first five years of the Syrian civil war. The report states that the hangings were part of an extermination policy issued by the top level functionaries of the Syrian government.

The report further states that several thousands more people have died from torture and starvation in Saydnaya prison. The bodies of these prisoners were being dumped in two mass graves located on the outskirts of Damascus. This has been continuing for the last five years, the report says. Nicolette Waldman, the author who created the report, suspects that such hangings are still being carried out in Syria.

As per information provided by witnesses, sometimes around 20 to 50 people were hanged on the same day. It is alleged that a military court would hold bogus trials and order these prisoners to be hanged. The prisoners had no chance since they were at the mercy of the Syrian regime.

Overall, the total number of people who have died in Syria is around 400,000 and the number of people displaced is almost about half of the population of Syria.